[Inspired by Sonia Sanchez’s I’ve Been a Woman and in honor of International Women’s Day]
by Alexandra Hohmann

In a hurricane born of struggle
I’ve been a woman
A Mother Nature dominatrix
wearing a crown of tears

I’ve been a woman of the night
slinking between bed sheets
walking on fire and ice
I’ve been a woman of the light
floating across time and space
yawning in the void

I’ve been
a trailblazer
a mother
a girl-child
an infant of freedom
been sexless
been sexed
been Lady MacBeth, pleading
“unsex me here”

More than X and Y,
greater than Alpha and Omega,
beyond the Big Bang and black hole
at the edge of the Milky Way

I’ve been a woman…
worthy
I’ve been a woman…
holy
I’ve been a woman…
me

This poem was submitted as part of our communal poetry project, voces (voices) of the people (poets). If you’d like to contribute, please review the link, and send your poem to betweenfigandyork@gmail.com